Conor McGregor claims lack of worthy opponents for Francis Ngannou at PFL may make fans lose interest
Francis Ngannou has joined the Professional Fighters League (PFL) after leaving the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) at the beginning of the year.
The 36-year-old Ngannou parted ways with the UFC in January after failing to negotiate a new contract. The Cameroonian was anticipated to defend his heavyweight title against Jon Jones, but he turned down an $8 million contract to face the UFC legend in order to pursue other opportunities.
After months of negotiations, Ngannou will now compete for the PFL, with his debut in the promotion’s pay-per-view super-fight division scheduled for next year.
Conor McGregor was recently questioned about his opinion of Francis Ngannou accepting an offer to join another promotion (PFL) by Ariel Helwani in an interview. The Irishman said that he was pleased to hear that the former heavyweight champion had landed a lucrative deal, but that he thought the fighter should have stayed with the UFC. He said:
“I’m happy for Francis first of all, fair play…he done his thing. I still think he should’ve came to a resolution with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Who is he gonna fight? Who is he gonna fight that’s gonna capture the general public? There’s no one.”
“There’s no matchup that I can think of that I can even say to myself that it’s gonna do big…That is commendable for sure [Ngannou’s opponents receiving minimum $2 millon] and like I said, I’m happy for him. I just don’t see a buzz on an annoucement.“
Check out the interview below:
Eddie Hearn claims he would like to promote Conor McGregor, but not against a “plonker” like Jake Paul
Eddie Hearn would love to promote Conor McGregor so that he can resume his boxing career. McGregor is likely the most popular and successful UFC entertainer in the sport’s history. As part of their joint business promotion, Hearn visited Conor’s renowned pub during a recent trip to Ireland. Eddie decided to discredit Jake Paul as a potential opponent for Conor McGregor after discussing his experience with The Sun. In a recent press conference for his fight against Nate Diaz, Jake Paul appeared persuaded that a bout with Conor is inevitable. Hearn stated he would love to promote Conor McGregor’s boxing career, indicating that he does not believe this to be the case.
Eddie Hearn had to explain to The Sun, however, that he would not do so out of reverence for the UFC president. He stated:
“We talked about boxing but obviously he’s with the UFC and I respect Dana. He also knows what he’s doing, he’s been around and if we ever get involved in promoting a fight for him, it would be fantastic. But we’re getting on very well. He FaceTimed me and it was almost like a brother phoning me up last night, or a dad going, ‘Alright? Good day to day, I’ve seen it all.’ Good work, make sure you get some sleep, you need to go again tomorrow.’ I was like, ‘Alright, thanks a lot.’ We’re out pushing all his brands and looking forward to seeing him tonight.”
According to British slang, a plonker is essentially an idiot, and Hearn had no problem labelling Jake Paul a plonker. In the interview, he was asked who Conor McGregor could face following his boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather:
“Jake Paul, Nate Diaz, I dunno but I don’t think he needs to do it. He’s made his money, he’s a great mixed martial artist. You don’t want to go in there and lose to someone you don’t really like. It’s one thing losing to Floyd Mayweather, you don’t want to lose to a plonker.”
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